Beside you and Always
by riotousorder
Summary: Isabel died on that rainy day but she never really left. She couldn't leave her Big Bro alone, no so soon. So she would walk side by side with him until her Big Bro had people he could trust, like her and Farlan.


'LA LA LA LA LA.' Isabel screamed into his ears. Her 'singing', if one could call it that, was as horrible as ever.

'Shut up.' Levi scolded her half-heartedly, sipping on his tea, eyes never wavering from the report he was reading.

'Sir?' Eren, who had been sitting quietly, deep in thought, promptly went two shades pale.

'Not you.' Levi's answer was clipped.

'Oh.' The brat did not seem reassured.

Isabel smirked and continued howling her awful tune.

Levi whacked her upside the head with the paper he was holding. It passed through harmlessly. And she had the gale to stick her tongue out at him.

Eren looked seconds away from dashing out of the room.

* * *

Isabel had been hanging around him since the day he agreed to be Erwin's subordinate. She appeared in a dream and became his shadow came the morning.

No one could see her, no one could hear her.

Only Levi could. A few attempts of talking to her in front of others had garnered him some questioning looks. Most passed it off as his quirks to deal with the horror of Titans, though. Everyone in Survey Corps had unusual quirks themselves, so Levi talking to himself was not that big of a deal.

He kept the talking to a minimum, however; only speaking when he was absolutely sure there was no one present in the vicinity.

Isabel did not mind that at all. She talked enough for his part, yapping away with unrelated stories. How she would _love_ to ride a horse again. How Hanji unsettled her with her enthusiasm for dissecting a Titan. How Mike's sniffing reminded her of a lost puppy. How much she wanted for Levi to hand Erwin's ass to him.

Levi complied with her request just to shut her up, not out of his curiosity or anything. Definitely not.

Erwin easily agreed to a friendly spar when Levi barged into his office and demanded one. He had hoped Erwin would decline to save him the trouble.

One leg sweep later and Erwin yielded, waving goodbye to Levi and the peanut gallery that had gathered on the field to go back to his paperwork.

'That easy?' Isabel questioned from besides him, flabbergasted.

'That bastard. He didn't even try'. Levi seethed on the spot. Then he rounded on the source of the problem and stare frostily at her. Isabel edged away from him, all the while smiling sheepishly.

Pity the poor soul that got caught directly in his line of stare and fainted on the spot.

* * *

'The stars are amazing tonight!' Isabel walked on along the edge of the wall, skilfully balancing herself on the narrow path even though she could just levitate if she tripped. 'Ah I want to reach them.' She exclaimed longingly.

'You're a ghost, fly away.' Levi deadpanned, rolling the dry bread in his hand, his portion for dinner. Not that he ate _that_ much for a meal though.

'I would if I could. I can only stay away from you for a certain distance. About, um, the length of the iron wire from the 3D maneuver gear.' The girl waggled a finger in front of his face, nodding sagely when she figured out the length.

They stayed quiet for a while longer, gazing at the sky of stars up above.

'I'm sorry. For leaving you two.' Levi could feel his fingers digging into the soft bread.

'Not your fault Big Bro. We don't blame you.' She shook her head, pigtails swinging softly. 'We were weak. We were useless.' She smiled bitterly, a smile filled with self-hatred that Levi didn't think Isabel was capable of.

'You're not. You both are not.' He refuted firmly, voice never leaving its usual flat tone. What had gotten into her head?

Isabel's shoulders quaked lightly, and before Levi realised it, he was having an armful of a bawling girl.

'I want to see the world with you and Farlan. I don't want to die so soon. I'm sorry we left you alone.' She uttered in between breathless hiccup, wiping her face on his front vest.

He stayed still until her cry subsided into quiet sniffles before asking.

'If you're here, where is Farlan?' The question had been eating at his mind for a while now.

'He went ahead.' She pointed a finger upward. 'And told me to look after you.' She smiled shamelessly, as if Levi needed a babysitter.

'You are useless.'

'Hey!'

* * *

'There's a Titan coming from your left. Duck! Such a big nose. It's an Abnormal, Big Bro! Backflip!'

Levi dutifully backflipped, just as the Abnormal Titan slammed into the four-meter titan and promptly squashed it under its weight. He finished it off with a clean cut at the nape.

'Captain, are you alright?' Petra came flying from the tree branch she was standing on, worry etched on her face.

'I'm fine. How are the others?' He whipped out a handkerchief and started wiping his blade.

'Clean freak.' Isabel grumbled. Levi just happened to stomp his left foot quite hard on a particular spot on the tree branch.

'We have exterminated all the Titans in the surrounding area and captured one alive for Squad Leader Hanji. Eld sprained his ankle but it is nothing serious.'

Levi nodded. 'Get the horses ready. We are heading back.'

'Yes sir!'

Isabel waited until Petra swung out of earshot to comment. 'You find some great people.'

Levi waited for her to continue.

'Maybe it's time I left.' She sounded thoughtful. Levi couldn't help an ache in his heart.

'Don't want to meet the Titan brat first?' He changed the subject. He had not prepared for this day.

'Oh, his hearing is two days away, right? I'm not leaving until you have custody of him then.' She grinned toothily at him.

Levi sighed. He knew this was inevitable but he would postpone it if he could.

* * *

'The stars are out early today.' Isabel said, pointing at the brightest star just above the horizon. 'Farlan is waiting for me there.'

'You really are leaving then?' Levi asked, a touch wistful.

'Uhm.' Isabel didn't look him in the eyes. 'I overstay my welcome already.'

'Oh?' Levi arched an eyebrow. There was a time limit for how long she could remain?

' _I stay until you find a place where you belong_. That's the deal I made with myself. You have found it, Big Bro, your squad, the Survey Corps, the place where you belong.' Isabel smiled, her figure getting more and more transparent as reddish sunset light faded away. 'Don't come meet us too soon Big Bro, or I will kick your butt.' She swung an intangible fist at his shoulder, smirking triumphantly.

'When pigs fly. Send my regards to Farlan.' Levi placed a hand above her head. Just cool air beneath his palm.

'I will!'

A sudden strong blast of wind whipped through the prairie, raising up a cloud of wispy white dandelion seed.

A fitting farewell for a dear friend.

'Captain Levi, I have cleaned the spoons and dishes to be used for dinner.' Eren saluted him from the entrance of the staircase, body taut with apprehension.

'I'll check. If there is one speck of dust remain, redo it.' He intoned as he passed the kid to come down to the kitchen, where the rest of his squad must be stressing out about cooking without dirtying the kitchen they spent an afternoon cleaning.

* * *

AN: This turned out to be far more different from what OP wants. I tried to make it a hurt/comfort and angst but it somehow turned out to be far more light-hearted.

Work Text:

Fill for a prompt on snkkink. dreamwidth 19979. html?thread= 10222603#cmt10222603 (minus the blank space)


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